As a Marine and life long gun guy, I do my best to get to the range on a regular basis. Plus as a citizen that carries a Concealed Carry Weapon, I feel it’s a serious responsibility to keep my skills up, not just for my sake, but for those around me. Depending on what shooting I go to several different ranges in my area, both outdoor and indoor. Shooting is very popular down here, not that it’s not in other places, but the fact we have decent weather year round and very little restriction on gun ownership (good thing), the ranges are almost always crowded.

In these crowds you’ll see a wide range of different types of people. People shooting hunting rifles, home defense folks, skeet shooters, men, women and kids of all ages and different ethnic groups. A wide range of skills and experience for sure but overall good people. With that there is one group that always shows up (in larger and larger numbers as of late) and I’m sure you’ve seen them; the camo down, geared up, military style guys. I’ve seen this group at ranges all over the country and within the law people are free to do what ever they want and I would be the last one to try and tell free people what to do with their time and money.

However one thing that you notice with this group other than the obvious fact that they’ve spent a lot of money on gear and weapons is that most (not all) are way out of shape. I have always found this a curious thing. Meaning that if you are into the whole military thing (from my experience, most aren’t or never have been in the military), you would think that you would also want to at least get into reasonable physical shape like the military? I have heard many of these people speak about “Prepping” and their fear of a coming “meltdown” of society, in which they would be need to prepared with weapons, food, etc. to survive on their own. I know these people are well stocked with all the best gear, but in a real situation all that stuff and planning won’t mean anything if your body can’t hold up (let alone perform at a high level) in a tough situation. To be honest seeing these people squeezed into expensive tactical gear is funny to see and has become a joke on the internet (where I got the attached picture), as it’s so common. So it’s not just me noticing this.

In reality, I’ve seen this actually play out during some of the major hurricanes we’ve had down here. I’ve see people that were in poor condition (and not just older people) have a very hard time dealing with the stress of evacuating and the recovery afterward. Just for one example, I saw out of shape people in my neighborhood that were virtually helpless trying deal with the aftermath of hurricane Ivan. The heat, humidity were extreme and there was no power for over a week, so no AC. Myself and several other Marines spent a lot of time helping these people (neighbors) and we were glad that we could, however I hate to think what would have happened to them without help. Some ended up in the hospital anyway.

My point is this (and I’ve said this many times before), is that you have to “prep” yourself first. Before you gear up Rambo, get yourself in at least reasonable shape. My book Corps Strength lays out a simple and effective way to this and costs about as much as one box of 9mm. Get in shape and be truly ready to deal with the real world. Not to mention you’ll avoid having your picture become an internet joke.

I hope everyone has a Merry and Safe Christmas. Enjoy time with your family and friends and be sure to say a prayer and raise a glass to our brothers and sisters serving in harms way during the holidays.

Semper Fi

MGunz

corpsstrength.com